Aftermath of the Fifteenth
by shandulah84
Summary: When the fifteenth attacks Asuka's mind, Shinji reactivates his own Eva to save her. Will he get to her in time? Or will he fall victim to the Angel and fail Asuka completely. R&R pleese!


This takes place during the situation with the fifteenth Angel, where an SxA romance will ensue afterward. Or will it? Read to find out! I'll be quiet now.

Disclaimer: Well always need a disclaimer, don't we? Anyways, I don't own Evangelion or Gainax. Like I would know what to do if I did anyway.

On with the story!

Chapter 1: The Fifteenth

Shinji's POV

I don't think I could ever forget the day when you protested to go inside the eva and take the place of Ayanami at the center of the mission. I remember clearly what it was you were supposed to do: stand at the frontline position equipped with the positron rifle and aim at the target in the center. The Angel was still out of orbit when you tried to shoot.

Oh yes, I remember it clearly. Instead of the bullet penetrating the Angel's field like it was supposed to, it failed to do any damage to the target at all and you ended up suddenly being engulfed in a shaft of light. I heard on the comm. speaker through my eva from Dr. Akagi that it was some kind of psychological attack on the pilot's mind and that the Angel was attempting to read through your memories.

It was then that you screamed for help that you fumbled with the weapon and I pleaded to whoever "watches" me in the eva to help me get to you in some way, if possible. I continued with my calls to save you as I at last heard an answer to my last prayers. The purple unit then, out of nowhere, reactivated as I felt the bond between myself and the eva's embodiment weaken and my soul become one with the eva...

And the last thing I heard before giving in to the darkness apparently came from the command center, "Synch. rate 400..."

"Hello, Mother..."

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Asuka's POV

There it was, in space, outside of the satellite's general orbit, and beyond the gun's firing range. It seemed almost impossible at the time to even defeat the darn thing and kill it for its enormous distance from earth was incomprehensible to compare anything with it. But, as it always was in these instances, there was a task at hand and someone ordered to complete what there was needed to get done.

Wondergirl not only volunteered to defeat the Angel, but also coincided with the Commander's orders. And if that wasn't enough, I had to protest my way just to retrieve my point in the center all for being the best and maintaining my own pride. After the last defeat, I was damned if I'd allow for another assistance on the battlefield, especially from what I considered unfriendly inferiors to my actual goal in mind. My pride had been scorched almost completely after being humiliated in the encounter of the fourteenth and beaten by everyone's invincible idiot...

So there it was settled. The order was rearranged to sortie me in the offensive position and provide me with the necessary weapons to do the job. I kept telling myself that I could do this and that I had to do this, or else I wouldn't be piloting anymore and I would be replaced, my purpose and self-worth going down the drain entirely.

However, those thoughts were quickly interrupted when all of a sudden I felt a throbbing pain directed at my mind. My eyes were soon blinded by an intensifying light as I tried cracking one of my eyelids open, failing to do so. It fell back into place while a round of visions flashed quickly, but painfully through my mind. All of them were painful memories I had tried so hard to repress within myself for so long, years of hard work dissipating under the intense pressure being placed unto me by the defiler of my mind...

"NO!" I screamed loudly.

"The Angel is defiling my mind! Get out of my mind!"

My agonizing screams filled the command center, as far as I can tell, reaching into the technician's hearts and burning their ears with a desire to do something, anything. But they were unable to do so as they were just sitting there at their terminals trying to rid whatever it was raping my mind and resurfacing my deepest, darkest memories.

Although the light was too much for my eyesight to take, I could see well enough to spot the form of Unit-01 rising from the launch pad. It broke the restraints that kept the unit from moving and all of the bolts locking it in place. At that moment, I knew well of exactly who was coming to rescue me from this hell in my mindscape. It wasn't gonna be Wondergirl or the idiot's stooge friend Toji. Not that he would be cleared for piloting, anyway, for he lost an arm and a leg in the thirteenth confrontation.

No, it would be the very idiot himself. The one who has the highest number of kills. The one who pisses me off because he has the highest sync. ratio. The one who batters my pride every time we go into battle. The one who has no spine whatsoever, yet thinks he can enter an eva and expect to pilot with great results, which he always does.

But he's the one who always sacrifices himself to protect others, even when they least expect it. And he was the one who came to my rescue in the incident with the eighth. And the one who I loathe completely, yet love insanely at the same time.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I deduced that he was going to get caught in the same shit I was in. I silently prayed to myself that the opposite would happen and that he would make it out alive. But the orange spectral wings growing out of his eva's back soon filled me with a sensation of doubt that he wouldn't make it to the next day if he will.

What one of the techs said next didn't seem to alleviate any of the tension I had on Shinji's condition. "Synch. rate 400..."

The rest of the phrase got drowned out through the speakers as my comm. system was suddenly cut off by some unknown force. It appeared that the memories were coming back again, but only for a split second. This had been because Unit-01 shifted its position slightly as it sped towards the designated target. The statement the technician declared instantly made me recall the time when Shinji battled the fourteenth and achieved a 400 sync. rate, making him, what the others' said, "One with the eva..."

At the time I was too stubborn to concede with what was going on and that I was about to lose the only one I had ever had hopes of one day understanding me. But now my feelings for the thin pilot have been sorted out with time and I only have yet to make a confession to that of which I truly desire...

He raced towards the opposing force, orange wings aglow in the daylight. The purple mecha collided with the white and winged creature as it ripped off piece by piece of the Angel's limbs, seeking for that part that, if crushed, would transpire upon its total destruction. Even our enemies could feel pain, as the Angel screeched out its pain every time a piece of itself pounded into nothingness inside the eva's hands.

Unit-01 gripped the core of the Angel and yanked it off with a vehement force, crushing it as if it were simply a chicken's egg being mashed in someone's hand. The Angel gave one last cry of pain before its annihilation occurred. An explosion rippled throughout the universe and left the unit floating there aimlessly with the rest of the stars, unaffected by the devastating blast...

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Shinji's POV

I drifted through a field of nothingness, looking for any sign of life in this God forsaken hellhole. One could've said it was tranquil had it not been for the increasing loneliness and the want of seeing everybody else again. I had wanted especially to see Asuka again so that I could tell her how I feel, but it had looked like that I would never even get the opportunity to see her face or hear her voice again.

There was no pain here and no harm could possibly be done to anybody here, but it was also a means of running away from everything. A way of escaping the painful reality and exist only in dreams – your dreams... Only to cause people and yourself more pain because your separation from them would be prolonged to the point where everyone would begin to wonder about you and even miss you.

I wasn't sure if the others would think that way, but I wanted at least to see their faces again, smiling and laughing under the sunlight and running on the sidewalk. But in all likelihood, that did not seem even applicable to come to pass or plausible to even think of during the moment of silence as I was trapped inside my eva...

But then through the quiet I was met with the familiar aura of my mother's ambience and the customary sight of my mother's countenance. She spoke to me in gentle words, "Welcome back, my son..."

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I know, if I get good reviews I might think of continuing this, but for now I really needs some tips and criticism, if any. So send me your reviews and what you think, pretty pleez? I had a hard time writing this so I really need them.


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